Development of chaperonin 10-based second generation biopharmaceuticals for treatment of inflammatory diseases. Diseases caused by malfunctioning of the body's immune system (inflammatory diseases) such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn's disease cause illness in all cultures and societies, and impose financial strain on health care providers. Current treatment relies on biopharmaceuticals that block inflammatory mediators in the body or with pharmaceuticals such as anti-inflammatory ....Development of chaperonin 10-based second generation biopharmaceuticals for treatment of inflammatory diseases. Diseases caused by malfunctioning of the body's immune system (inflammatory diseases) such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn's disease cause illness in all cultures and societies, and impose financial strain on health care providers. Current treatment relies on biopharmaceuticals that block inflammatory mediators in the body or with pharmaceuticals such as anti-inflammatory drugs; both these treatments may have serious side effects. Cpn10 suppresses the body's inflammatory response while maintaining immune function to combat infections. The project seeks to develop new, safe and effective biopharmaceuticals based on Cpn10 for the treatment of a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders.Read moreRead less
Targeting the delivery of cytotoxic agents to tumour cells using novel minicells as drug delivery vehicles and engineered, bispecific antibodies. Cancer persists as a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. A major problem is the non-specific action of drugs used for treatment. The minicell is a drug delivery vehicle, capable of packaging a variety of drugs. The project will develop tumour-specific antibodies that will target minicells to tumours, improving cancer survival rates.
Development of an anti-Chlamydia vaccine for the koala. The koala is one of Australia's main icons and a major drawcard for tourists. However, it suffers from debilitating disease due to the bacterium Chlamydia, which can lead to severe conjunctivitis, eventual blindness in both sexes, and the females develop untreatable cysts and can become infertile. This project will develop a Chlamydia vaccine to be administered to healthy and diseased koalas in zoos, sanctuaries, koala care centres, relocat ....Development of an anti-Chlamydia vaccine for the koala. The koala is one of Australia's main icons and a major drawcard for tourists. However, it suffers from debilitating disease due to the bacterium Chlamydia, which can lead to severe conjunctivitis, eventual blindness in both sexes, and the females develop untreatable cysts and can become infertile. This project will develop a Chlamydia vaccine to be administered to healthy and diseased koalas in zoos, sanctuaries, koala care centres, relocation programs and eventually perhaps even wild populations. The vaccine findings may also be transferable to other animals and may also even assist the development of a human Chlamydia vaccine.Read moreRead less
Establishment of Therapeutically Relevant Animal Models and Markers for Crohn's Disease. Crohn's disease is a devastating life long disease, affecting 0.5% of the world population. There is urgent economic and social need to develop new and better drugs to treat the symptoms and underlying cause of this debilitating disease. Social benefits include the improved quality of life of sufferers that positively impacts society. Economic benefit includes income derived from commercialisation of rese ....Establishment of Therapeutically Relevant Animal Models and Markers for Crohn's Disease. Crohn's disease is a devastating life long disease, affecting 0.5% of the world population. There is urgent economic and social need to develop new and better drugs to treat the symptoms and underlying cause of this debilitating disease. Social benefits include the improved quality of life of sufferers that positively impacts society. Economic benefit includes income derived from commercialisation of research outcomes and the contribution this project makes to high value employment in the biotechnology sector.Read moreRead less
Development of a safe and immunogenic anti-chlamydia vaccine for the koala. Many koala populations are under threat of extinction from chlamydial disease.The project will develop a chlamydial vaccine and conduct trials in several wild koala populations for safety and effectiveness.
Using adaptive and innate immunity to chytridiomycosis to save amphibians from extinction. Chytridiomycosis has been implicated in the decline or extinction of hundreds of frog species worldwide since its emergence in the 1970s. The goal of this project is to identify immune frogs for captive breeding and successful reintroduction, screen populations to predict their risk of decline and develop targeted vaccines.
Superbugs and veterinary drugs: are multidrug-resistant zoonotic pathogens residing in Australian animals? Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem affecting human health that is now emerging in animals and veterinary hospitals. This project will integrate surveillance with novel treatments and preventatives to develop effective strategies to limit the impact of resistant bacteria to animal health and prevent transfer between humans and animals.
Flavour enhancing functional feeds for farmed Barramundi. This project aims to improve the flavour quality of Australian farmed barramundi through developing novel functional feeds. The project expects to expand our fundamental knowledge of flavour enhancement, whilst providing practical benefits with respect to final product quality. The project will enable industry to achieve higher product quality benchmarks, towards the ultimate goal of improving the marketability of barramundi both locally ....Flavour enhancing functional feeds for farmed Barramundi. This project aims to improve the flavour quality of Australian farmed barramundi through developing novel functional feeds. The project expects to expand our fundamental knowledge of flavour enhancement, whilst providing practical benefits with respect to final product quality. The project will enable industry to achieve higher product quality benchmarks, towards the ultimate goal of improving the marketability of barramundi both locally and overseas. This project will provide significant benefits to the Australian barramundi industry by increasing product values, thereby facilitating an economically sustainable growth of this important regional industry.Read moreRead less
Australia’s first Green Biopharm . Protein-based medicines and vaccines represent the fastest growing sector of the pharmaceutical market, but their production by Australian small and medium enterprises is prohibited by the high infrastructure and operating costs of traditional manufacturing systems. This project aims to develop advanced methods to produce protein-based medicines using a native plant. The power of this technology will be demonstrated by making a biologic anti-parasite treatment, ....Australia’s first Green Biopharm . Protein-based medicines and vaccines represent the fastest growing sector of the pharmaceutical market, but their production by Australian small and medium enterprises is prohibited by the high infrastructure and operating costs of traditional manufacturing systems. This project aims to develop advanced methods to produce protein-based medicines using a native plant. The power of this technology will be demonstrated by making a biologic anti-parasite treatment, as an alternative to outdated chemical treatments. Expected outcomes include a unique scalable technology which will support Australia's sovereign capacity to produce high-value proteins, rapidly, affordably, and at scale, and with less complexity than current plant-based systems. Read moreRead less
Increasing amphibian immunity to combat disease causing mass extinction. This project aims to increase amphibian survival to combat the devastating chytrid fungus by identifying resistance genes and increasing their frequency in the host population. The project is interdisciplinary and uses targeted genetic manipulation techniques developed for agriculture to improve disease resistance in wildlife for the first time. Expected outcomes include 1) enhanced international collaborations in comparati ....Increasing amphibian immunity to combat disease causing mass extinction. This project aims to increase amphibian survival to combat the devastating chytrid fungus by identifying resistance genes and increasing their frequency in the host population. The project is interdisciplinary and uses targeted genetic manipulation techniques developed for agriculture to improve disease resistance in wildlife for the first time. Expected outcomes include 1) enhanced international collaborations in comparative immunology, 2) a comprehensive understanding of immunity to chytridiomycosis, and 3) disease resistant amphibians. The anticipated benefit is ability to apply the optimal method to improve conservation of wildlife threatened by emerging disease, such as marker assisted selective breeding or genetic engineering.Read moreRead less